Middle Mountain Mamma Race Report

Temp was 88...humidity 90%..It was going to be a tough race. This was the first day of real heat & humidity we've had. I knew it would be a tough day in the saddle, but I didn't realize just how tough. I was the only Master Woman over 40 so all I had to do was finish. My class raced with the other sport chickies so usually I try to stay competitive w/ them. Not this day. At the start I led the pack out the gravel road into the trail head. I climbed as best as I could to stay in front, but one of the other sport chickies was younger & stronger so I let her go. She sped off into oblivion. I settled in & just rode to the best of my ability. I forgot how much climbing is in this race. I've been doing short, fast stuff for the past few weeks so the long climbs really took their toll.
At one point 3/4 of the way up, I started getting chills. I knew my that wasn't good especially since the temps were near 90. That meant I was dehydrating. I decided to keep plodding on. When I got to the campground area I considered bailing out but decided to keep going.
It was tough, I walked most of the back side. I kept wishing I had one more easy gear but the 1x9 was all I had. Through the race I stopped alot, took a lot of electroytes and fluids, and kept regretting my decision to keep going.
I finished the race but was in a world of hurt. I crossed the finish line in tears and basically had a melt down. After lots of water, electrolytes, more water, and more electrolytes I started feeling betting about 4 hours after the race. It was ugly. I think my time for the 21 miles was somewhere around 3 hours & 21 minutes. Next time I'll listen to my body.